Beatriz Cortez x rafa esparza: Earth and Cosmos

“Having this exhibition invites us to think about crossing space and time, breaking chronologies, temporalities, and borders in a world that is not always so generous—is always about excluding someone,” says Beatriz Cortez, multidisciplinary artist and co-presenter of the exhibition Beatriz Cortez x rafa esparza: Earth and Cosmos at Americas Society. “Our plan is to talk about migration, forced migration, and sometimes-willing migration.” 

Cortez collaborated with rafa esparza, a fellow member of the Los Angeles art scene, to create the exhibition, which showcases works from both artists and explores how they influence each other's work. “I work primarily with adobe, and I often collaborate with family, friends, peers, and I have collaborated with Beatriz quite a bit over the years,” says esparza. 

Both artists shared their personal and familial connections with this exhibition. “My parents migrated to New York before I was born, and then they moved back to El Salvador. My mom worked at the United Nations, and even though it was the 1960s, she didn’t find anything from El Salvador except in her office. I think it’s important to create this work so that other people like her can find these objects and recognize a piece of themselves,” shares Cortez. 

Meanwhile, esparza explains how different people have influenced his work, but it was from his father, Ramón Esparza, that he learned to make adobe bricks and create with land and soil. “He brought this practice from Durango, Mexico, so it’s essentially immigrant labor. And it’s important to keep those entities visible and present in these spaces,” he says.  

In a new initiative from Americas Society, the curatorial team acted as coordinators, mediators, and facilitators of these artists’ dialogues while minimizing their intellectual input “in order to allow the artists to fully tell their own story,” says Aimé Iglesias Lukin, Director and Chief Curator of Art at Americas Society. 

The show opened on January 29 and will be on view through May 17, 2025.

• Visit the Beatriz Cortez x rafa esparza: Earth and Cosmos exhibition.
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Funders

The presentation of Beatriz Cortez x rafa esparza: Earth and Cosmos is made possible by support from Liana Krupp, as well as by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

The presentation of Cortez's work is supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. We thank Kibum Kim and everyone at Commonwealth and Council, without whom this project would not be possible.

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle members: Amalia Amoedo, Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, Elena Matsuura, Maggie Miqueo, Antonio Murzi, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Marco Pappalardo and Cintya Poletti Pappalardo, Carolina Pinciroli, Erica Roberts, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.